The deal would dwarf the £170,000 Fernando Torres and John Terry bank every week

The Blues are desperate to land the deadly £48m-rated Atletico Madrid hitman in January.

They are lining up the staggering £10.4m-a-year offer to persuade him to snub Manchester City and Real Madrid to join the Blues.

The deal would dwarf the £170,000 Fernando Torres and John Terry bank every week.

It is another clear sign of Roman Abramovich’s desire to win the race for the Colombian striker – and he knows he will have to pull out all the stops to land top target Falcao, 26.

Mega-rich City and Jose Mourinho’s Madrid are also hot on his trail.

Bernabeu president Florentino Perez and captain Iker Casillas sat on the same table as Falcao at a recent awards dinner in Madrid.

Perez is understood to have joked about trying to sign Falcao in the same way he did Zinedine Zidane at a similar event in 2000, by scribbling, ‘Do you want to join Madrid?’ on a napkin and passing it across the table.

Falcao is one of the hottest strikers in Europe.

He has hit 25 goals in 24 games for club and country this season, including a five-goal haul against Deportivo La Coruna last week.

Chelsea’s move for Falcao would place a serious question mark over Torres – just as he is starting to rediscover form.

The Spaniard, who joined for £50m almost two years ago, has bagged five goals in his last three Chelsea game.